DIY Loudspeaker Pics

WireNut · « **on:** 9 Aug 2012, 04:09 am »

Show us your DIY Loudspeaker pics.

nullspace · « **Reply #1 on:** 9 Aug 2012, 04:47 pm »

I've been working on a 2-way with GreatPlainsAudio AlNiCo drivers -- 414-8B 12" and 802-8G 1" on the AH!1000 conical horn from the Acoustic Horn Co. The crossover is at ~1200Hz.

The box is about 4.5 cu. ft. and tuned to ~28Hz. The method of construction is somewhat novel. It's layers of 0.75"H x 1.5"D solid poplar. Poplar has a lot of the stiffness of plywood, but is considerably lighter.

Regards,
John

Sonny · « **Reply #2 on:** 9 Aug 2012, 04:54 pm »

Here's the progression of my DIY speakers, granted all I did was assembled the final product (drivers, fill and XO)

TrungT · « **Reply #3 on:** 9 Aug 2012, 05:23 pm »

Very nice

nocrapman · « **Reply #4 on:** 9 Aug 2012, 06:15 pm »

Sonny what the heck are those... look very impressive.

Do u have a build thread somewhere?

Sonny · « **Reply #5 on:** 9 Aug 2012, 06:18 pm »

Quote from: nocrapman on 9 Aug 2012, 06:15 pm

Sonny what the heck are those... look very impressive.

Do u have a build thread somewhere?

thanks! So, these are the GeerS eVe II. You can google it and there's a few links out there. Also, if you search for it on the circle, i posted a thread awhile back.

Tuan

milford3 · « **Reply #6 on:** 9 Aug 2012, 07:48 pm »

Very impressive indeed. But the question is on my audiophile block is how do they sound?

Sonny · « **Reply #7 on:** 9 Aug 2012, 09:07 pm »

Quote from: milford3 on 9 Aug 2012, 07:48 pm

Very impressive indeed. But the question is on my audiophile block is how do they sound?

Well, safe to say that I won't ever need another pair of speakers! Of course there are better speakers out there that can bring more to the sound platform...bigger speakers, more efficient and dynamic, but these are extremely good and I love them!
T

mgalusha · « **Reply #8 on:** 9 Aug 2012, 09:16 pm »

Current project. JBL 2226H woofers, sealed alignment, Beyma TPL-150H air motion transformers up top.

Cabs are baltic birch, 2 layers for baffle, external crossovers and with any luck a finish from Ruben H.

mgalusha · « **Reply #9 on:** 9 Aug 2012, 09:18 pm »

Quote from: nullspace on 9 Aug 2012, 04:47 pm

I've been working on a 2-way with GreatPlainsAudio AlNiCo drivers -- 414-8B 12" and 802-8G 1" on the AH!1000 conical horn from the Acoustic Horn Co. The crossover is at ~1200Hz.

The box is about 4.5 cu. ft. and tuned to ~28Hz. The method of construction is somewhat novel. It's layers of 0.75"H x 1.5"D solid poplar. Poplar has a lot of the stiffness of plywood, but is considerably lighter.

I've seen your pics of these before, way cool.

mgalusha · « **Reply #10 on:** 9 Aug 2012, 09:19 pm »

Quote from: Sonny on 9 Aug 2012, 04:54 pm

Here's the progression of my DIY speakers, granted all I did was assembled the final product (drivers, fill and XO)

Beautiful work Tuan, sweet as can be.

roymail · « **Reply #11 on:** 9 Aug 2012, 09:47 pm »

Mike, wow, how do these compare with the Abbey's?

FullRangeMan · « **Reply #12 on:** 9 Aug 2012, 10:10 pm »

Do not make line array with 10'' fullrange drivers, it not work.

JoshK · « **Reply #13 on:** 9 Aug 2012, 11:02 pm »

Mike, way cool! I am very intrigued to see how you find those. I've been uber curious for a long while about doing something similar.

HT cOz · « **Reply #14 on:** 10 Aug 2012, 12:14 am »

Here are a few from my build

Tyson · « **Reply #15 on:** 10 Aug 2012, 12:26 am »

Built the GR Research V2's a while back, didn't like the original tweeters that much, so upgraded to the fully OB tweeters from the GR Research V1's. Of course, I then had to rip out the passive crossover and go fully active, and build out my own crossover settings from scratch. It ended up sounding (and looking) very nice, IMO. I call them the Super V2's

nullspace · « **Reply #16 on:** 10 Aug 2012, 01:50 am »

Quote from: mgalusha on 9 Aug 2012, 09:16 pm

Current project. JBL 2226H woofers, sealed alignment, Beyma TPL-150H air motion transformers up top.

Very nice, Mike. I hope you'll post updates as you go along. I'm completely intrigued by the TPL-150H and have only just barely managed not to get myself a pair for testing. I'll be very curious to see how they work out for you. In particular, how horizontal directivity matches up with a 15" direct radiator.

Regards,
John

JoshK · « **Reply #17 on:** 10 Aug 2012, 02:00 am »

Quote from: Tyson on 10 Aug 2012, 12:26 am

Built the GR Research V2's a while back, didn't like the original tweeters that much, so upgraded to the fully OB tweeters from the GR Research V1's. Of course, I then had to rip out the passive crossover and go fully active, and build out my own crossover settings from scratch. It ended up sounding (and looking) very nice, IMO. I call them the Super V2's

You Tyson, I know you listened to those long term now and you were a previous RM40 owner (me too). How would you compare from memory (even if audio memory is shite)? What did going full active add? What amps are you using in full active?

JoshK · « **Reply #18 on:** 10 Aug 2012, 02:01 am »

Quote from: nullspace on 10 Aug 2012, 01:50 am

Very nice, Mike. I hope you'll post updates as you go along. I'm completely intrigued by the TPL-150H and have only just barely managed not to get myself a pair for testing. I'll be very curious to see how they work out for you. In particular, how horizontal directivity matches up with a 15" direct radiator.

Regards,
John

Echo John's curiousity.

Tyson · « **Reply #19 on:** 10 Aug 2012, 02:18 am »

Quote from: JoshK on 10 Aug 2012, 02:00 am

You Tyson, I know you listened to those long term now and you were a previous RM40 owner (me too). How would you compare from memory (even if audio memory is shite)? What did going full active add? What amps are you using in full active?

Different, for sure. I thought the RM40's were great speakers but had a weak midbass but strong low bass. Great mids and highs too, but they really needed a bit of space to sound their best. I used to have a bigger space, but don't anymore.

The V2's need less space because the mids/highs are concentric and highly directional, so they interact with the room less on the sides, plus the OB radiation pattern helps. Bass is better overall, stronger midbass and about equal deep bass. And OB bass interacts with an irregularly shaped room much, much better than box bass. Even when I had the DEQX I could never get the bass to sound right/even in my room.

The 40's were very good at dynamics, but the V2's are even better. Highs were better on the 40's, those planars and ribbons were very very good. Overall I'd say the V2's biggest strength is sounding "big" in a small or irregular space, and in a pretty svelte footprint. Of course, if I had it to do over again, I'd probably build the Super V's. The bass quality and impact on those things is INSANE. Best bass I've heard ever.

For the fully active part - I'm using a miniDSP 4x8 for my preamp/DAC/Crossover/EQ, a custom VTA ST70 for the highs, an identical VTA ST70 for the mids, and a Crown K2 for the bass.

I ran my 40's fully active for a while, and I ran my next set of speakers (custom boxes w/SEAS drivers, 3 way), and now the V2's. I ran each speaker passive for a while, then active for a while. I can say this - going active is a very steep learning curve and you absolutely must be willing to experiment a lot and really, really listen and understand what you are hearing. Nothing has taught me how to listen to a speaker more than trying to dial in a good sounding crossover. Looking at the settings I had vs the choices made by the passive designers, I'd say that their choices are, uhm, interesting. I always end up quite a bit different than the passive version, usually in several parameters.

Overall, active vs passive I'd say that active gives you more clarity and far better dynamics and bass. And it really allows tube amps to shine. Most tube amps that sound a little soft, it's because of the way it interacts with the passive crossover and the speaker load. Fully active allows tube amps to still have that tube magic, but with much sharper details and more percussive dynamics.